perishing adjective 2noun 1forms 3 adjective2 •Extremely cold. •Extreme; used of environmental or bodily conditions.If many more white men knew of this method of obtaining and extracting water, there would be, perhaps, many saved from the horrors of perishing thirst. — 1946 noun1 •The act of something that perishes; decay or destruction.Since the world of becoming, of origins and perishings, is deficient in true Being, it cannot be known in the best sense. — 1971 formsperishings · more perishing · most perishing